Here is a list of just some of the advantages of working with mechanical metamaterials: Extreme properties The best part of mechanical metamaterial engineering is that you can use both the natural characteristics of the basic material that you are working with in addition to the “meta” geometric design. Mechanical metamaterials can be used as solutions for a variety of problems, since they can be designed for particular applications to replace materials that are commonly used (see Figure 2). What properties can be manipulated by using a mechanical metamaterial? Dynamic properties can also be manipulated, as evidenced in metamaterials that can act as heat or acoustic shields 2 (E) or even larger structures that can cloak buildings from seismic activity 3 (F). At the millimeter to centimeter scale, the same geometries can be used, or different designs can be implemented for other objectives, like directional stiffness (C) or impact absorption and failure mitigation (D). Microscopic lattices can be 3d-printed using a variety of specialty techniques and can create ultra-light, ultra-stiff lattices 1 like that shown in (A), or a material with extreme characteristics like that shown in (B). Because they are based on geometry, mechanical metamaterials can be made at any lengths scale. The field is growing fast as more applications are discovered, and it would be impossible to cover all the innovations in the brief time we have here, but we can dive a little deeper into mechanical metamaterials and explore many of the potential material systems that can be created using geometry instead of chemistry.įigure 2: Mechanical metamaterials at many scales. Specific applications include optical materials that act as perfect lenses, perfect acoustic dampeners, negative thermal expansion, and negative stiffness mechanical metamaterials. Over the past several decades, metamaterials have been created that can manipulate optical, acoustic, thermal, and mechanical properties. Metamaterials are purposely designed to produce characteristics that a conventional material can’t exhibit. The key differentiator between a composite and a metamaterial is that the geometric pattern provided by the “meta” scale is designed for a particular purpose. Any conventional material can be geometrically architected into a “meta” cell that is then put together in a periodic pattern to make a metamaterial. In fact, the word “meta” comes from the ancient Greek that can mean “further” or “beyond”, and it refers to the fact that metamaterials are carefully structured with building blocks beyond the atomic scale (see Figure 1). Metamaterials takes the idea of building blocks one step further. The building blocks for material science are usually atoms and molecules, with metalworkers and polymer scientists alike combining these fundamental pieces to make an alloy, plastic, or ceramic that is better than those that came before. Cast iron is a brittle, hard material that is difficult to work with, but with just a little bit of carbon (and thousands of years of collective metallurgical experience), it can be transformed into steel, which is both strong and malleable. Material science usually focuses on how this composition affects overall material properties. What turns a conventional material into a metamaterial?Ĭonventional materials have mechanical, thermal, and optical properties that are determined by their molecular or atomic composition. Taking a conventional material and structuring it on a “meta” scale in the form of a cell allows us to build structured “metamaterials” that are designed to move beyond the restrictions of conventional materials. Depending on the type and structure of these atoms, we can get materials as diverse as rubbers, metals, and ceramics – each with distinct properties and characteristics. All conventional materials are composed of constituent atoms. Figure 1: From conventional materials to metamaterials. In this overview, we’ll discuss how mechanical metamaterials differ from conventional materials and what they can be used for, as well as the promise (and occasional pitfalls) associated with mechanical metamaterial engineering. At Armory Technologies we specialize in designing and producing mechanical metamaterial solutions.
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